Creative

Overview

There’s a career for you in Scotland’s thriving creative industry – whatever your interests. It’s one of Scotland’s most diverse sectors, covering architecture, TV, radio, film, fashion and textiles, cultural heritage, design, journalism, publishing, music, visual arts, gaming and more.

If you can combine imaginative insight and a natural flair for storytelling with technical skill then you could be in demand. Solid digital knowledge is now essential as well. Many people who work in the industry are either self-employed and manage their own hours, or work on contracts of a year or less. This means a creative career could be a great choice if you’re entrepreneurial, love networking, enjoy promoting your self and your abilities and value flexibility in your work life.

There’s no shortage of talented young Scots who want to work in the creative industries. To put yourself ahead of the competition, you need to be determined. It’s important to get work experience, volunteer, and take part in extra-curricular activities alongside your studies. This gives you insight into how the industry works, the jobs and duties involved and the skills that are needed. It also helps you figure out what suits you, and start to build a network of contacts who can help you in the future.

Sole traders, micro and small businesses dominate the sector. Around 13,500 businesses have 0 to 49 employees – tha’ts nearly 98% of the total number of businesses in 2014.

Self-employment is high in design, film, performing arts, visual arts, music, television and fashion.

Scotland’s Creative industries contribute significantly to the economy. The sector generated GVA of £3.06 billion in 2012 and employs some 68,500 people, around 2.5% of Scottish employment.

Over 52% of the Scottish Creative Industries workforce has a degree.

The industry is expected to grow by 2% – that’s an estimated 1,300 jobs being created – per year.

Some 3,000 senior production, technical craft and executive workforce will retire annually. This means significant opportunities at the junior level as people are promoted up.

Creative digital, design, data analytics and storytelling skills in all forms will be in demand.

Self-employment is predicted to grow across the sector. So, developing business skills in areas like marketing, social media, e-commerce, book-keeping is as important as developing your creative skills.